Founded in November 2011 by Saahil Goel, Gautam Kapoor and Vishesh Khurana,
Kartrocket was started with the vision of democratizing ecommerce for independent and unique brands across India. Kartrocket has two products by which it serves various seller segments:
1. Kraftly: A mobile app based small seller platform which allows almost anyone to start an online shop in under a minute. Kraftly is trying to bring the most unique, creative and indie brands online with this. It offers sellers features such as Social Selling on Whatsapp, Facebook & Instagram and many other promotional tools making it an essential app for any small seller. Currently, 25,000 brands sell on Kraftly and there are over 15 listings added every minute!
2. Kartrocket: Kartrocket is a SaaS based ecommerce platform that powers ecommerce storefronts for over 3000 SMB merchants. The Kartrocket product is aimed towards slightly larger SMBs who have a significant offline presence and want to participate in omni channel commerce by being available to their customers digitally as well.
As a company, Kartrocket integrates with various ecosystem partners such as logistics solutions, payment gateways, B2C marketplaces, affiliate partners, other SaaS tools and more, with the aim of truly enabling small and SMB merchants with everything they need under one roof.
Sujata Sangwan Interacts With the Kartrocket’s Founding Team and Spoke to Them
GenesisKartrocket was started with the idea of providing storefronts to SMB merchants in a transparent pricing and automated fashion in 2012. Very early on the company realized that end-to-end enablement was the way to go and with that thought, logistics integration was offered as a key feature along with the website platform.
This disrupted the market as Kartrocket was the only company in India offering such a unique and comprehensive product and service. From there on, that platform was built based on needs of various merchants that Kartrocket served.
Unique key feature/services
a. Logistics and COD Gateway: Kartrocket is the only e-commerce logistics aggregator in India that is able to offer pickup and delivery services to over 15000 pin codes. Activation for shipping services is instant and using the service is a one-click process as well. The platform integrates with leading courier providers such as Delhivery, Aramex, Fedex, Bluedart, EcomExpress and more to offer these services in a seamless and automated fashion.
b. Mobile Selling: Kraftly is India's only mobile selling tool that not only allows small sellers and homepreneurs to instantly start a shop, but also allows buyers to discover and buy unique products from these sellers.
Differentiation factorsCurrent marketplaces are focused on commodity products sourced from large sellers and do not offer a unique buying experience. Both Kartrocket and Kraftly are enabling small and SMB sellers to get online and helping them with the discovery of their products as well. Thus, the company has carved out a unique seller and buyer niche for its platform.
Funding status The company has raised a total $9.25M funding till date.
Monetization model The firm monetizes by following steps:
a. Per Order Fees (Shipping)
b. % Commission on orders (for Kraftly)
c. Flat monthly fees (for Kartrocket)
Challenges facedThey initially faced challenges with how to build an early set of customers, how to grow and market without high spends, and how to ensure the business consistently performed with meaningful unit economics.
Market size & opportunity etc.The market size for this opportunity is quite large in India alone. There are over 50M home sellers and small businesses in India that will need to e-enable their businesses in the coming years. As more and more consumers go the digital way for making their purchases and for discovering products, it will become imperative in the coming years for these businesses to have a commerce-enabled presence in the digital world.
